Wednesday, 14 November 2018

1990

1990 was a TV series that aired in 1977 on the BBC. It
starred Edward Woodward in the lead role and was based on the novel by Wifred
Greatorex. It was quite groundbreaking in its time, depicting as it did, a
dystopian future not dissimilar to the more famous one written by George Orwell
that became ‘1984’.

A quick synopsis can be gathered from Wikipedia, but I will
include the background summary of the world depicted that I obtained from that
source:

This state of affairs was precipitated by an
irrecoverable national bankruptcy in 1981,
triggering martial law. In the general election, only 20% voted. The economy
(and imports) drastically contracted forcing stringent rationing of housing,
goods and services. These are distributed according to a person's LifeScore as
determined (and constantly reviewed) by the PCD on behalf of the
union-dominated socialist government. As a consequence, the higher-status
individuals appear to be civil servants and union leaders. An exception to this
are import/export agents, which appear to be immune to state control due to
their importance to the remnants of the economy. The House of Lords has been
abolished and turned into an exclusive dining club. State ownership of
businesses appears to be near-total and prohibition of wealth and income
appears to be very high. The reigning monarch is male due to the unfortunate
death of the previous monarch (Elizabeth II) but his identity is never made
clear. The currency is the Anglodollar (replaced the pound sterling in 1982 due
to economic collapse) which appears to have little value overseas due to the
international boycott of British exports. The armed forces have been run down
to the extent that they are little more than an internal security force. This
is made clear in one episode where the RAF is depicted as consisting of little
more than a handful of Harrier Jump Jets and a few dozen counter-insurgency
helicopters. Despite this National Service has been re-introduced (via the Youth
Behaviour Control Act 1984 which enforces conscription and Genetic Crimes Act
1985, which makes sexual offences punishable by hanging). It is said that in
1986 two Army Generals and a retired Air Chief Marshal attempted a coup against
the government, but it failed.

Although running the bureaucratic dictatorship, the
state appears to shy away from explicit political violence, preferring to set
up psychiatric pseudo-hospitals called "Adult Rehabilitation Centres"
which employ electro-convulsive
treatments to 'cure' dissidents. Ordinary criminals found guilty of
traditional and new economic and social crimes are prevented from clogging up
the prison system by having short sentences during which they are force-fed
"misery pills" (via the Oral Swallowing Induction Device, which was
first tested at Ashworth Asylum for the Genetically Defective on Ian Brady and 21 others), which induce severe
depression and agony during their incarceration. Despite this, fatalities and
injuries do occur due to the PCD's lack of democratic accountability but these
are misreported or ignored by the state-controlled press and television or are
suppressed by the print unions on the last independent newspaper in the UK. The
state can also declare a person to be a "non-citizen" which denies
them any entitlement whatsoever to consumer goods, accommodation or food. (This
often happens to sex offenders, even ones who have served their sentence and
been released.) Labour is controlled by a mandatory closed shop in every
workplace. For at least part of the series, the country is on a three-day
working week, presumably to conserve energy or to promote full employment
through job sharing. Taking a second job
("moonlighting") is illegal as is "parasitism", defined as
claiming state benefits while fit for work. Ombudsman's Courts which are fixed
in favour of the state are the key part of the legal system.

Emigration is a key problem with a steady "brain drain"
countered by PCD Emigration officers who try to watch every port and airfield.
Despite this, professional and skilled labour is fast disappearing from the
country in a similar manner to East Germany before the fall of the Berlin Wall.

So why am I discussing this TV Series from 40 years ago ?

Because recent events that have made the news has made me
realise how this dystopian vision is actually in serious danger of becoming a
reality.

In the TV series we have the PCD (Department of Public
Control) who dictate every aspect of how one may live your life. There is
strict rationing of food, housing and services, with what you get strictly
regulated by your ‘Life-score’ (i.e. how useful you are to society). Private
businesses are illegal (everybody must work in a mandatory closed-shop ‘Union-controlled’
workplace), taking a second job is illegal (parasitism), Ombudsman’s Courts are
fixed in favour of the state, a free press are suppressed by the print unions, Britain
is isolated as the rest of the world will not trade with it, emigration is
illegal (though escape is still possible as shown by the ‘brain-drain’ which
sees the most talented people constantly fleeing to other countries.

In real life Britain of 2018, for the PCD, read Public
Health. In real-life Britain 2018, we have Public Health trying to exert an
ever greater stranglehold on the civil liberties we used to take for granted
(can you guess what ‘Life-Score’ Public Health people would have ?). We have
seen the recently introduced Soda Taxes, Sugar taxes, proposals to tax red meat,
proposals to put cancer warnings on alcohol (and meat) as examples.

Even the Government depicted in 1990 has eerie parallels to
what the Momentum (and Trade Union) controlled Labour party want to do. In recent
months we have had various people in the Labour party (and indeed Trade Unions)
calling for Press regulation. We have heard John McDonnell calling for
Nationalisation of our industries, another Labour MP only this week calling for
all housing to be nationalised. The Left are also trying hard to suppress free
speech and are always screaming for more and more so-called hate-crimes to be
investigated with greater zeal than real crimes. We have even had calls from
some quarters of the Left trying to incite people to kill anybody who does not
agree with their extreme left-wing views.

The parallels are quite uncanny. The only things in the
series that we do not (yet) have in real-life 2018 are the ‘Adult Rehabilitation Centres’ centres
and the force-feeding of ‘misery’ pills to prisoners who have very short
sentences.

About the only thing depicted in the series (which, as the
title suggests, is set in 1990) that they got wrong is that in the 1990 TV
Series, everybody still smokes. I put this down to the year that 1990 was
actually made as a TV series. In 1977, nobody could have dreamed that smoking
would be illegal in enclosed public spaces, let alone that moves would be afoot
to banish smoking from ALL public spaces.

I really do recommend you view this TV Series when you have
the chance. I believe it is available on DVD, and you can also find episodes on
Youtube (and for the tech-savvy you can find it through Bittorrent). There were two series of eight episodes each. The 1970’s filming
techniques have not aged well, but the acting is very good and the series ia
very dark, gritty drama. Even more so when you take into consideration the 1970’s
TV habit of having extremely minimal background music.

It is a dark, apocryphal, scary look into what this country
could become. What worries me is that the more I watch the different episodes,
the more I see that world becoming a reality with what I am seeing in 2018 ‘modern’
Britain.

About Me

I was born in Wales way back in the year of 1963. I am bilingual - fluent in both Welsh and English - but can also lay claim to having some limited conversational abilities in French, Dutch and German.
My favourite sport is Rugby Union, which I played for more than 30 years until forced to retire due to injury. Consequently, I am a bit bigger than your average guy in that I am 6 foot tall and currently weigh 170lbs.
I am an accomplished musician having played in several brass bands and orchestras, therefore I can play a multitude of musical instruments.